The Toronto Public Library (TPL) has recently instituted a controversial new Community and Event Space Rental Policy.\u00a0 Under the new policy the library can deny or cancel a room booking based on an assessment that \u201cthe purpose of the booking is likely to promote, or would have the effect of promoting, discrimination, contempt or hatred\u201d for groups or individuals on the basis of \u201crace, ethnic origin, place of origin, citizenship, colour ancestry, language, creed (religion), age, sex, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, disability, political affiliation, membership in a union or association, receipt of public assistance, level of literacy or any other similar factor\u201d.<\/p>\n
There is no question that this new approach is well intended.\u00a0 But good intentions don\u2019t necessarily make for good policy.\u00a0 The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) is among those who say that the new policy is a bad idea. We say that in requiring library staff to sort anticipated \u201cgood\u201d speech from anticipated \u201cbad\u201d speech, the new policy is antithetical to the unique and critical mission of libraries to provide universal access to a broad range of information and ideas, including the offensive ones.<\/p>\n
Just as libraries must vigorously defend against patrons attempting to have books removed for their alleged offensiveness, so must they remain \u2018content-neutral\u2019 with respect to what patrons might wish to discuss in community meeting rooms.<\/p>\n
But wouldn\u2019t this, as some would argue, make the library complicit in hate speech?\u00a0 In fact, that\u2019s a fairly far-fetched hypothetical.\u00a0 There is much less speech that meets the legal test for \u201chate speech\u201d than people suppose.\u00a0 In our view, this policy of prior restraint is much more likely to be complicit in \u201cno-platforming\u201d people trying to engage in discussions about deeply controversial topics.<\/p>\n
For example, will gender-critical feminist speakers be denied access to room rentals on the grounds that their views could promote contempt for transgendered persons?\u00a0 Would a group supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement with respect to Israel be permitted to use a space, or will the library agree with complaints from those of the opposing political view that the discussion by BDS will be necessarily discriminatory?\u00a0 Will politically conservative groups be permitted to hold public forums on immigration policy or will that be deemed impermissible as likely to promote discrimination against racialized communities?<\/p>\n
These are issues that we raised with TPL.\u00a0 And we very much appreciate that TPL assures us that it will continue to promote a diversity of views and not shy away from controversial topics in its collections, programming or room booking decisions.\u00a0 Our problem is that it is difficult to square the stance on intellectual freedom articulated by TPL with the actual policy it has just brought in which indicates something very different.<\/p>\n
Is it possible to imagine the same policy applied to collections: A bar on acquiring any materials which could promote discrimination on that broad range of grounds?\u00a0 No, such a policy applied to collections would not accord with foundational principles of intellectual freedom.\u00a0 Nor can it do so applied to room access.<\/p>\n
Simply put, you can\u2019t \u201cbalance\u201d suppressing speech with freedom of speech.\u00a0 Suppression of speech is the opposite of freedom of speech and the government is allowed to suppress some speech, but only if it can satisfy the test for justifying a violation of a constitutional right (a reasonable limit prescribed by law that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society).<\/p>\n
Would the TPL policy withstand a legal challenge?\u00a0 The TPL says it believes it would.\u00a0 There are others who are not so confident.\u00a0 But as important as the legal assessment may prove in the end, we are in fact only at the beginning.\u00a0 This is a new policy.\u00a0 The library community is very engaged in discussing this.<\/p>\n
Before we ask about the Law, we should ask ourselves about the Library, its role and mission in a free and democratic society.\u00a0 In the view of the BCCLA, creating a welcoming and supportive environment is always a wonderful aim.\u00a0 But libraries properly do not allow that goal to trump the fundamental commitment to intellectual freedom that makes it inevitable that some people will not feel welcome or supported because of expressive materials that they find offensive.\u00a0 The library defends the presence of such materials, without defending the content.\u00a0 This should be as true for speakers as it is for authors.<\/p>\n
>Micheal Vonn<\/strong> is the Policy Director at BC Civil Liberties Association.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Toronto Public Library (TPL) has recently instituted a controversial new Community and Event Space Rental Policy.\u00a0 Under the new policy the library can deny or cancel a room booking based on an assessment that \u201cthe purpose of the booking is likely to promote, or would have the effect of promoting, discrimination, contempt or hatred\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[203,200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issue-1-the-social-issue","category-volume-10-2018"],"yoast_head":"\n